Replay
by ZAFO
Summary: It's been one year since the last Nonary game has ended and Santa isn't happy with Junpei and his little sister together.  But, one person comes back into his life to make him realize that, indeed, he deserves to care about himself as well. Santa/Lotus
1. chapter one

**.replay.**

By ZAFO

* * *

**[1.]**

Aoi doesn't say anything when Junpei waltzes into his vision and plops down next to him on the living room couch, munching away on a bag of potato chips he could have sworn that Akane bought for _him_ and spilling crumbs everywhere onto the hard wooden floor...

_His_ hard wooden floor, which he had cleaned just a few hours ago.

_'That little bastard...'_

Gritting his teeth, Aoi tries his best to ignore the annoying _'crunch'_ sound emitting from the younger boy's mouth and simply grabs the remote control off the brown coffee table, preceding to change the channel at a rapid pace in order to help take his mind off of Junpei's unwanted presence.

"Yo, Santa." greets Junpei, his voice muffled by the sheer volume of food in his mouth.

Eyes narrowing sharply at the familiar nickname, Aoi tries hard to keep up his aloof demeanor and pointedly decides to ignore him.

**Click.**

"Hey."

**Click.**

"Santa."

**Click. **

"...are you listening?"

**Click. Click. Click.**

"SANTA!"

_'JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.' _Aoi thinks in response, sighing irritably before slamming the remote control back onto the brown coffee table.

Vibrations send small bits of debris and dust flying up into the air...

For someone so smart, could he not take a hint?

Startled, Junpei stops chewing, at last, then stares at Aoi as the white-haired boy gets up and roughly grabs the bag of potato chips away from him, savagely crushing everything inside.

Junpei can't help but think that "Santa" almost looks as terrifying as "Seven," now as he gulps and unconsciously shifts away; knowing that his girlfriend's older brother was not exactly reasonable when he was angry...

"You fucking douche." Aoi growls. "Get the fuck off my couch, right now."

"But! I didn't do anything!" Junpei says defensively, on instinct.

"NOW!" he roars, and the younger boy complies immediately; almost falling over as he scrambles to get off as quickly as possible.

Aoi's eyes are wild and red.

He speaks slowly; lowly.

"Who do you think you are?" he asks, his voice filled with more venom and malice than need be.

Junpei gulps.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"SHUT UP!" he yells.

Junpei shrinks back meekly, but even that doesn't give the older boy any satisfaction as he comes closer, pulling _him _closer by the collar of his shirt until their noses almost touch...

Now he's snarling.

"If you think you can just walk into _my _fucking house and eat _my _fucking food and make a mess on _my_ fucking floor and sit on _my_ fucking couch, then you've got another thing coming, you little dick. I swear, I'm going to make you—"

"—what's going on?" interrupts a soft, feminine voice.

At that moment, Akane Kurashiki walks into the room, looking concerned as she always is.

"Aoi? Jumpy? What are you two doing...?"

Junpei watches in amazement, vaguely intimidated as "Santa" slowly deflates.

_'Hmph.'_

'Number Three' merely grunts, then throws Junpei back onto the couch and turns without so much as a backwards glance to either Junpei or his younger sister.

"Aoi...?"

Now by the door, Aoi grabs his jacket off the nearby clothes rack and bends down to pull his signature black combat boots over his feet, staying silent as Akane continues to try and speak to him.

"Big brother? Where are you going?"

"Don't worry about it." he grumbles. "Just have a nice time with your pussy of a boyfriend."

"HEY!"

"Jumpy! Shh!" scolds Akane, putting a slender finger to her lips.

Then she turns her attention back to her brother, her expression sad— not that he could see it.

"When will you be back, big brother...?"

"Dunno." he replies, finally finished getting ready for the cold weather outside.

He turns the doorknob and waves a pale, dismissive hand.

_"See ya."_

* * *

"I don't know what to do..." Akane says mournfully. "Aoi's been getting moodier and moodier..."

"Eh, I noticed." agreed Junpei, rubbing the back of his head. "He looks like he wants to rip my throat out whenever I come visit you..."

"He's just being overprotective, I guess." shrugs Akane. "But, I'm worried. My gut instinct tells me that there's something wrong..."

"Like what?"

"Well..." she stops, looking pitifully dejected, "...I don't know."

"Maybe's he's just lonely." Junpei says playfully. "I mean, here I am— a handsome and heroic stud suddenly bursting into his life to replace him as his little sister's knight-in-shining-armour!"

"...don't be silly, Jumpy. You could never replace Aoi!" she says cheerfully, and Junpei sticks his tongue out.

"Yeah Yeah, I know. Just humor me, alright?"

Akane giggles.

"Okay."

"Anyway," he continues "I think he just needs a girlfriend."

"A girlfriend?"

"Yeah, you know. Someone to care for other than you." Junpei cocks his head to one side. "He worries too much, I think. I mean, I've known you since elementary school—it's not like I'm gonna do anything to you _now. _He needs someone to help him lighten up a little..."

"You're right..." she says slowly. "But who?"

"I don't know." replies Junpei, his eyes turning up in delight. "Let's just think about that later, after _this."_

"What is _'this?'"_ Akane asks curiously.

"_This." _he says, leaning down to kiss her.

* * *

"Santa" shivers, staring at the white puffs of air as breathes into his hands to warm them, just a little.

_'Damn it all.'_

He had forgotten to put on gloves before he walked out.

_'Whatever' _Aoi shrugs, trudging grumpily down the sidewalk as bustles of people walk pass him in a single, blurry haze.

Aoi keeps his head down.

His face is buried all the way up to his chin in the high collar of his stylish black military jacket; his whole outfit made monotone by his skinny jeans—also black—his headband, and his boots. His snow-white hair provides a stark contrast to this as well; complementing his exotic good looks and causing his ice-blue eyes to stand starkly out from the rest of the crowd; as evident when a small group of cheeky high school girls giggle and stop in front of him to try and get his attention.

Their attempt is pathetic, to say the least.

Childish.

Aoi would've laughed if it hadn't required so much energy to do it.

"Hi, cutie~"

"You're _so_ cool!"

"Wanna go out for some cake with us?" They chatter.

"No, thanks." he says casually. "I don't go for girls your age."

All three students blush and seem to lose their confidence at this.

"So...you like older girls then?" one of them asks tentatively.

"None of your business." he replies coldly, brushing past them into the dream-like, cloudy sequence of people once more. "Goodbye."

He wonders if this is what Gentarou Hongou feels like; numb, not being able to distinguish between faces...

Aoi _could, _of course— just not now as his mind lingers sorely on his little sister and her 'annoying' little boyfriend.

_'They're not gonna last.' _he thinks bitterly. _'I mean, look at them! All lovey-dovey and shit and cheesy like they're in some kind of stupid Asian drama! That fucking moron deserves to—'_

Suddenly, his thoughts are interrupted as he bumps roughly into the the body of a stranger, with almost enough force to jolt the both of them back...

"—HEY, WATCH IT!" he yells, shaking his head before glaring up at the _'no good, inconsiderate son-of-a-bitch...'_

But was it a man, or a woman?

He stops and eyes her from the bottom up.

Indeed, it is a woman.

She looks positively stunned as she stares back at him, blinking slowly.

_'Well...'_

Grudgingly, Aoi has to admit that she is good-looking.

And then she speaks, brushing away a stray stand of blue-black hair from her face.

"Oh my God, is that you, Santa?"

That voice...

_'No. No way.'_

"Lotus?" he asks disbelievingly.

**[to be continued...]**


	2. chapter two

**.replay.**

By ZAFO**  
**

* * *

**[2.]**

She had changed; simple as that.

In place of the infamous, barely-there belly dancer's garbe, "Lotus" now wore something akin to a real business woman. A ruffled white blouse peeked out modestly from behind a buttoned-up designer pinstripe blazer; complimented by a tight, matching pencil skirt and simple black pumps...

Raising an eyebrow, "Santa" then looks to her face.

Why didn't he recognize her before?

Although her dark hair is now styled distinctively into a chic bob cut—free of the numerous tacky braids that had once adorned her crown before—her face has very much stayed the same, albeit accented now with more _natural_ make-up...

The older woman simply smirks before shifting slightly on the heels of her feet, placing a slender, well-manicured hand onto her hip.

"Well, what do you know?"

Aoi scowls.

"Shut up, _hag."_

"Rude as ever." she remarks, looking down on him amusedly as his irritation continues to simmer.

She had changed.

The insult that would have sent her into a flying rage just one year ago...now bounced off her person harmlessly; blocked by the sheer aura of confidence she seemed radiate from within.

_'Not confidence.' _ thinks Aoi, growing stiff as she begins to circle him casually. _'Cockiness.'_

"Is that the way you talk to me?" she asks. "After all this time? I haven't heard from you or your sister in nearly a year."

"She's busy." he retorts crossly_. _"And what the hell are you doing?"

"It's funny." she muses, reaching out to pat his white hair curiously. "You still look like more of a punk than a stockbroker..."

"Hey—don't—fucking—_touch me!" _

'Santa' swats her hand away defensively, anger written plainly across his face.

'Lotus' simply remains impassive, though she steps back generously so as to circumvent any more outright hostility.

To outsiders looking in, however, the pair look almost affectionate...and deep down, Aoi supposes that they really should be.

It takes a lot of forgiveness to excuse someone for the kind of trauma he had put her through, so he knows he is in debt to her. He knows that he must be kind(er) to her—or civil, at the very least—but with the piling amount of nuisances (a.k.a. Junpei) that had ruined his day, Aoi finds it hard to abide to this common courtesy.

Never the less, 'Number Three' swallows his pride and bites back a snarl.

"I'm...sorry." he grits finally. "I'm having a bad day."

"Are you?" Lotus asks coolly, not bothered in the least. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm having a bad day myself."

"I can't tell."

"...People usually can't." she remarks.

The crowd continues to pass them now in the mist of their odd, new-found silence. Aoi shifts his eyes and realizes that a small gap has formed between him and Lotus and the rest of the world. It was as if the faceless flood of people had actually held some consideration for them; was giving them space to sort out their awkwardness and kiss and make-up as old friends_—_

_'No, acquaintances.'_

_—_should.

Cautiously, he then shifts his attention back to the older woman and becomes all-too-aware of himself and his words and his actions, realizing that he is boorish as fuck.

_'What am I?' _he thinks, almost flustered upon noticing, finally, that Lotus has been waiting for a reply all the while. _'I feel like a fucking kid again...'_

"Shit." Aoi mutters, running an elegant hand through his hair.

Lotus smiles.

"Problem?"

"Nothing that concerns you." he sighs roughly.

"We'll see."

He looks up.

The glint in her eyes that had been present since day one had_...dimmed,_ somewhat, as he could no longer validly call it "mischievous" or "scheming." Rather, it was quietly intelligent.

He wasn't suspect of it anymore; merely wary.

"...we'll see?" he echoes.

"We'll see." she repeats. "Now, how 'bout some coffee hmm?"

She points snidely to his rapidly reddening hands.

They were cold.

"I'm sure it'll warm you up a bit."

* * *

When Santa walks into the small coffee shop he hears the delicate tinkle of tin bells that had been attached onto the top of the glass door.

He has a flashback of a time when himself and Akane had went and gotten ice cream from a dinky little family-owned store in their old neighborhood. The freckled, red-headed teenager from behind the counter (a foreigner, surely...no Japanese man ever had natural red hair) would always give her more than they paid for just because she was so "cute."

Perhaps from a different point of view he had merely been friendly; but promptly afterwards he had never taken her there again.

_'...guess I've always had that problem, huh?'_

Lotus leaves him to go order the house special, whatever that was. She speaks to the barista with a calm, relative ease he can't help but envy.

_'But it's all for the best. Always was.'_

"They'll have everything ready in a moment." says Lotus, snapping him out of his melancholy haze.

She ushers him over to a nearby table immediately, making flippant shooing motions all the while. Thinking back to his earlier awkwardness, Aoi doesn't think he's ever felt like more of a child in his life.

"Coffee definitely shouldn't even take that long to make." he grumbles, obediently taking a seat nonetheless.

Lotus crosses her arms before she joins him.

"You didn't even pull out my chair for me." she comments casually. "Some gentleman you are."

"You just called me a punk like 10 minutes ago." he smirks. "What the hell would you expect?"

Her tone is sarcastic.

"You're right...what was I thinking?"

"Exactly." he snorts. "Now I hope you're paying for my portion too, _hag. _You're the one who invited me after all."

"You sure know do how to kill a conversation." she marvels in mock wonder. "But, I do have a name you know."

Aoi scowls irritably.

"What? You still wanna go by _'Lotus?'_ Or maybe you want me to call you by your real name?"

She stops.

For a moment, the older woman looks genuinely stunned.

"You...know my real name?" she asks slowly.

_"Of course."_ he scoffs. "I had to, in order to track you down for the game."

Lotus offers him no immediate reply.

A pretty young waitress carries over their drinks now along with two expensive-looking pastries. She gently sets the order down onto their table and briskly walks away; feeling as if she were intruding on something private.

Aoi rubs his chin thoughtfully.

"Hazuki, right? How are you?"

He takes one of the fancy pastries—a buttery croissant—and munches on it slowly. It was like a game now. Hazuki Kashiwabara is no longer so friendly...

….at least on the outside. Reminiscing to a time not-too-long-ago, 'Lotus' actually takes comfort in the fact that 'Number Three,' for better or for worse, has barely changed.

"We've discussed this already." Hazuki says calmly. "I'm having a bad day."

"Is it worse now, due to me?"

They lock eyes for but a fraction of a second.

Lotus turns her attention to the rest of their order. She reaches for a steaming cup of caffeine and takes a small sip; careful not to let her lips touch the foamy white cream swirled on top.

A wry smile.

"Don't be so cocky,_ Aoi._ On the contrary, you've actually made my day better."

"...you aren't hitting on me, are you?" Aoi asks, half-jokingly.

"Arrogance again." she says airily. "Far from it. Work's been getting stressful, you see, so I gladly welcome any opportunity these days to take a break away from it."

"Hmph. So I'm just a excuse."

"But a nice one, nonetheless."

Hazuki snickers a bit, and at that moment, Aoi can finally see some small vestige of the devious, scheming woman he had picked from the Nonary Game.

He smirks.

_'Still, underneath all that prissy business attire...'_

"...so what exactly is 'work,' huh? Something tells me that that suit ain't for belly-dancing."

Hazuki rolls her eyes and scoffs with a light _flick!_ of her head. Delicate wisps of her luxurious, blue-black hair fall back daintily into place when she turns to him once again.

This new cut, curling towards the apples of her cheeks as she leans forward, frames her face very nicely, he thinks.

_"Please."_ she says breezily. "When you and Akane spirited me away to Nevada, I was in the middle of one of my fitness classes. Belly-dancing's only for fun."

"Tch. Then what _do_ you do?"

"I'm the CEO of an online match-making company."

"...ew."

"_Ew?'_" exclaims Lotus. "How dare you! What's so '_ew' _about it?"

Aoi feels a tiny spark of delight welling up at the sight of her animated reaction, but suppresses it in favor for a more laid-back, disinterested attitude. This type of response, he figures, will only serve to rile her up further. Being the taunting prick he usually was was most likely not about to affect her any longer: he needed a new approach to be as annoying as possible.

He digs a pinky finger into one of his ears.

"The way I see it," he drawls. "Only losers need help finding love over the internet."

"Then have _you_ found love yet?" she asks icily.

The question catches him off guard.

"Wh-what?"

"I asked." Hazuki leans closer. "Have you found love yet?"

_"That's none of your damn business."_

"Then I've got my answer."

Hazuki Kashiwara falls back into her chair, looking infuriatingly smug.

Aoi curses his glass-like pale skin and fights back the tomato-red blush spreading across the whole of his face.

"Nosy old hag..."

She hums, satisfied.

"If you want, I could offer you my services."

"...that's what she said."

"Don't be a brat now. I'm being serious."

"I don't _need _a fuckin' girl in my life!" he snaps defensively. "Fucking shit, do you know how busy I am?"

"Of course, Mr. Millionaire. But I'm sure that as soon as the right girl come into your life, all that work won't even matter anymore..."

"Gold diggers, the lot of them!"

"Now you're over-generalizing."

"Sluts! Cunts! Bitches and whores!"

"It's no wonder you're still single..."

Hazuki gives a tragic sigh, and Aoi simply sneers in disgust.

_"Shut up."_

"Just give me a chance." she says. "I'm sure it won't be too hard finding a girl who's just as crude as you are..."

"I've only got one girl in my life." Aoi shoots back. "Akane and that fuckin' Junpei kid...it ain't even _my_ relationship, and I'm tired enough!"

Lotus stares at him incredulously, then rubs her chin with something akin to confusion.

"Well. I guess I can't say I didn't see it coming but..."

"But what?" he asks. "What's with that face?

"It's nothing." Lotus says dismissively. "I just thought that Clover would've gotten her hands on Junpei before Akane did."

"Clover liked.._.Junpei?"_

The woman shrugs.

"Still likes, I believe. I still keep in contact in her. She talks about him all the time, so I just assumed—"

"—_Hazuki." _

Aoi slams his hands down onto the table, nearly tipping over his companion's coffee and his own untouched drink.

"Looks like I'm gonna need your services after all."

* * *

**A/N:** omg dying *headdesks*


End file.
